July 12: Goldeyes Get Spanked. Now It’s a Slump.

It was an ugly game and Goldeyes manager Rick Forney knew it.

“We didn’t get any timely hits, we didn’t play defence very well and we didn’t pitch very well, either,” Forney said, shortly after the Goldeyes were blasted 14-4 by the Gary SouthShore RailCats Saturday night. “Put those three things together and that’s how you get blown out.”

With the loss, Winnipeg’s fourth-straight, the Goldeyes fell to 28-17 on the season, but still remained four games ahead of second place Gary in the race for first in the Northern League. But after going 19-5 through the first quarter of the season, the Goldeyes are now 9-12 in the second quarter with just three games left until the halfway point.

“The four-day break for the all-star game wasn’t a good thing for us,” Forney said. “We lost two games going into the all-star break and we’ve lost two coming out. The last thing you need when you’re not playing well is four days off. Now we’re just trying to pick up the pieces.”

The Goldeyes actually took an early 2-0 lead, but a three-run homer by Steve Haake and a solo blast by Brett Wallace put the RailCats in command.

Amazingly, the game was actually close until the ninth when Gary scored seven ugly runs against relievers Zach Baldwin and Cory Patton. In fairness to Patton, usually the Goldeyes centre fielder, he allowed only one earned run.

“Ace (starter Ace Walker) elevated two fastballs and I think that was the difference in the game,” Forney said. “When Haake hit the three-run homer, we were ahead 2-0 and playing pretty well. We couldn’t recover from that.

“We just have to go out on Sunday, play better and give Bear (starter Bay) some run support.”